CCC-Vinci JV wins deal for Oman water scheme

Team takes first phase of US $112 million contract to build a dam and supply scheme in Wadi Dayqah

A joint venture of Consolidated Contractors Company Oman (CCC) and Vinci Construction of France has been awarded the contract for the first phase of the US $112 million (OR43 million) Wadi Dayqah Dam and Water Supply Scheme in Oman. The JV will construct two dams located upstream of Mazara village in Quriyat Wilayat. The main one will be built across the main Wadi channel, along with a saddle dam, which together will create a huge reservoir with a potential capacity of 100 million m3. The value of the contract has not been revealed. Phase two will begin after a second contract is awarded later this year for the construction of two pumping stations, 130km of pipelines, a water treatment works and treated water storage. This will enable water from the reservoir to be treated to comply with the Omani standards for drinking water quality, which will then be transferred to existing users in Hayl al Ghaf and Daghmar and in the future to users in Quriyat Wilayat. Construction of the dams is expected to be completed in mid-2009. Sheikh Abdullah bin Salim al Rowas, minister of regional municipalities, environment and water resources, said the project complies with the need for a more sustainable development of Oman’s water resources, given the pivotal place that water plays in the nation’s development. It is also one of the key water-based initiatives envisioned in the National Strategy for Water Resources 2000-2020. Besides enabling the supply of potable water to Quriyat Wilayat in particular, and Muscat Governorate in general, the Wadi Dayqah dam project will help augment Oman’s strategic water reserves. It will also ease pressure on coastal groundwater aquifers, curb saline ingress, protect downstream settlements from flooding, and curtail wastewater run-off into the sea. Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, minister of national economy and deputy chairman of the economic affairs and energy resources council, stressed that the project is vital to the country’s infrastructure development overall. *Fourteen companies are competing for a contract to dualise a key stretch of the Nizwa-Salalah highway in Oman. Bids were submitted last week for the work on a 74km segment of the highway, stretching from Thamrait to Salalah, which is worth $78 million. The project is designed to facilitate smooth traffic flows in and out of Salalah. Oman is also spending $247 million on the construction of housing units, roads, schools, health centres, and a desalination plant.